By now, everyone pretty much agrees that President Obama overstepped his boundaries and constitutional authorization back on January 4th, 2012. Don’t remember what happened that day? It was when he gave the head of the Consumer Financial Bureau, Richard Cordray a recess appointment. All of this eventually led to recent, troubling events. Cordray, who despite his job title is still simply a private citizen, has issued lots of potentially game-changing decisions on the part of the CFPB. In the case of State National Bank of Big Springs v. Lew, the judge said that Cordray was able to wave around a “magic wand” to help retroactively make his actions the law of the land. So then, the decision to grant recess to Cordray, and to ultimately keep him in a place of artificially inflated authority, has eroded the Constitution’s very direct instructions that limit the appointment powers of the President of the United States and will likely set a precedent that future presidents will adhere to.…

While finishing college is a huge relief for people, there are other types of anxiety that start to set in once school is over with. Many graduates find themselves stressed out with the idea of finding a good job, which direction they should take their career in the future and most pressing for some is trying to come up with a way to pay off their huge student loans as quickly as possible. If you check out any type of social media site where former students sound off about their current issues, you’ll find hundreds of them posting about how worried they are that they won’t be able to pay off their student loan debt quickly. The Temptation to pay off Student Loans Immediately While no one likes the idea of paying off huge amounts of debt, graduates are usually very eager to whittle down their student loan debts almost as soon as they enter the full time work force. However, the temptation (some might…

The Obama administration made some announcements recently that should be of concern to anyone who gets loans online or who operates an online lending company. The administration announced that it is actively soliciting for complaints from people who have been “encountering problems with loans from online lenders.” This is a blatant warning that financial regulators are going to be taking some serious action against an industry that has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years. There are literally millions of people who have taken out personal loans via the Internet. These types of loans continue to grow in popularity because they don’t require borrowers to spend hours trying to procure a loan, and they give consumers access to loan applications, comparing loans and ultimately getting their money around the clock. People can easily compare the rates of one lender to another, the same way that they would compare hotel room prices or prices for products on Amazon. Marketplace loans, or online loans grew from $12 billion…

There is an old saying about history repeating itself if we are not smart enough to learn from it. This seems to be happening right now with regards to credit card debt levels in the United States. It was less than a decade ago that the great recession financially rocked the United States. Prior to the recession, things were cruising right along, economically speaking. And that means that credit card debt levels were pretty high. Of course, once the bottom fell out, all of that consumer credit card debt led to financial disasters for millions of American consumers. That same type of debt is rising to a level that is pretty darned close to pre-recession numbers. Take for example the closing of last year. In the final quarter of 2015, consumers racked up a sizeable $ billion in credit card debt. That number can be so hard to digest that it is difficult to understand how much debt affects the average household. When adjusted to…

There aren’t many people that set out to have problems with their bank accounts. Truth be told, we’d all like to always have plenty of money in our accounts, and all of our bills paid on time. And we’d sure like to avoid paying any excessive fees to our banks for overdraft fees. Being that debit cards are a great solution for people who want to stay on track with their finances, it is puzzling why so many debit card users wind up paying overdraft fees. Some people even end up paying these expensive fees month after month. If you’ve ever found yourself staring down a pricey overdraft fee from your bank, you know how painful this situation can be. Money is tight for a lot of folks these days, and most people don’t have an extra 30-something dollars to pay out to their banks all the time. An overdraft occurs when you don’t have enough money in your bank account to keep up with…

There was a time, not all that long ago, when people only had to pay for a land line with regards to their telecommunications costs. It wasn’t too long before having a mobile phone became a necessity. And just a few years later, most people have smart phones and wouldn’t know how to get by without them. The new technology is great, but having to pay higher bills every month to get access to data, texting and talk minutes is no fun at all. This is especially true for folks who are trying to do their best to save a little money. Are you one of the millions of people who pay too much for their monthly cell phone bills? If you are, you can rest assured that there are lots of other people out there who are actively trying to find ways to cut back on their mobile phone bills every month. Think about this: The average monthly mobile phone bill from the popular…

Like many other states, Utah recently put some important protections into place to help protect consumers that take out payday loans. One of these requirements offers lenders the ability to offer extended repayment plans. This option, which includes zero-interest repayment for borrowers, was put into law because of outcries from an organization that demands more time for people to repay their loans. Some believe that this requirement helps borrowers to get more value from payday cash advance loans. An organization called the Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA), an organization that strives to offer best practices for short term lenders, has lauded this Utah law. This law gives borrowers lots of time to repay their loans, without forcing borrowers to pay higher fees to get an extension on their loans. This flies in the face of some media reports that demonize payday lending companies in the state of Utah, and even the consumers these lenders provide services for. In fact, one article went so…

A recent Wells Fargo & Company survey unveiled some very interesting information. According to this study, 78 percent of people in America want to learn more about how to manage their money, and 53 percent of the people who responded wanted to learn specific information about credit. To help these people learn what they need to know, the company has announced that they are launching the Path to Good Credit. This initiative includes a series of interactive websites that give consumers important information about building credit and improving their credit scores. The Path to Good Credit allows people to take quizzes, view videos and learn from informative, tip-filled articles. The end result that the company hopes is to make people more knowledgeable about their credit reports and scores. According to Gary Korotzer, an executive with Wells Fargo’s Consumer Credit Solutions group, “Understanding how to manage credit is an important ingredient in economic self-sufficiency and success. We want to provide our customers with an informative and…

There are some people who believe that paying off all of their old debts is the ultimate financial achievement. Imagine getting rid of all your responsibilities to pay your creditors every month. That has to feel pretty darn good, right? But what does it mean to pay off all your debts in full? Some people approach debt from the moral side of things. These folks believe that for a debt to truly be paid in full, it must be paid back to the organization that your originally borrowed from. This, however, is not always possible. If a debt goes to collections or if a lending institution sells your account, there is really no way to meet this lofty moral obligation. The other side of paying off your debts is paying them off completely; meaning that you don’t owe a penny to any creditor or a particular creditor as the case may be. Again, this is not always possible, either. Some people wind up negotiating with…

It’s always fun to go out to your favorite restaurant with co-workers to do a little bit of bonding. And who can argue about how picking up some take-out food is the easiest option on extremely busy days? Heck, even joining some friends for drinks out at the local restaurant can be a great way to relieve stress. All of this dining out, though, is sure to increase your spending every month – not to mention your overall caloric intake… Many people wind up in debt – and even stuck with bad credit scores – simply because they eat out a bit too much. It’s hard to curb this habit, though, as dining out has become a staple of modern day living. An article from Forbes that was published back in 2013 reported that Americans usually spend about one thousand dollars a year on eating out for lunch alone. To understand those numbers, it would mean eating out just twice a week and spending about…

Prototypes for Trump's border wall break ground in San Diego Fox NewsIn San Diego, work could begin soon on construction of prototypes for Trump's border wall Los Angeles TimesCounty Supervisors Approve Urgency Ordinance At Border Where Wall Prototypes Will Be Built KPBSConstruction begins on Trump's border wall prototypes in Otay Mesa The San Diego Union-TribuneFull coverage